Conventionally, food items, such as hotdogs, are sometimes prepared by covering the food item in a batter and then dipping it into a deep fryer to fry the food item. Corndogs are typical of this cooking process by piercing a frankfurter or hot dog lengthwise with a stick and then dipping the hot dog in a cornbread batter. The batter-coated hot dog is then immersed into a deep fryer to cook the corndog. The food item thus becomes saturated with undesirable fats and cholesterol in addition to the fat and cholesterol already in the hot dog and batter.
In addition to the dietary drawbacks of deep frying, using this type of cooking method is also undesirable as many users do not have proper venting for a fryer. The use of hot oil to fry the corndogs also increases the risk of operator injury as well as the increased chance of a fire.
Therefore, it is desirable to use a baking process to cook batter-coated food items. Baking the food item results in a product with virtually none of the problems associated with frying.